A pair of gilt-bronze mounted celadon porcelain cachepots Louis XV, circa 1745-1749

each of cylindrical form, the celadon decorated with incised flower and stylized leaf motifs, with a scroll and stylized leaf cast rim mount and two scrolled bifurcated handles with acanthus and flowerheads, the base with alternating c-scrolls, rocaille, foliage and flowers; each with crowned C mark to bronze

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE

Daniel Alcouffe, Gilt Bronzes in the Louvre, Paris, 2004, p. 95.

Gillian Wilson, Mounted Oriental Porcelain in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 2000, p. 66-71.

This attractive and rare pair of gilt-bronze mounted celadon cachepots is in good conserved condition. The mounts, stamped multiple times with a crowned "c", are worn in places, with minor marks and scratches commensurate with age and use. The porcelain of one with repaired cracks to the body, its pair with a faint hairline crack and a flat shallow glaze chip to rim. A minor age crack to the gilt-bronze branch issuing from one of the two bifurcated handles; all mounts, including handles, in otherwise sound condition. As expected, the gilt lining of both appears to be slightly mottled. These cachepots are ready to be placed.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The taste for finely mounted oriental porcelain, which had already flourished during the previous decade, reached its peak in Paris in the 1750s. The marchand-mercier Lazare Duvaux (1703-1758), who worked closely with the best bronziers of the age, including Jean-Claude Duplessis (1699-1774) and Jacques Caffieri (1678-1755), frequently supplied his prestigious clientele with such vases. For instance, in December 1752 his diary registers the sale of “deux vases de porcelaine céladon ancienne, montes en bronze doré d’or molu” to Madame de Pompadour, one of his most preeminent patrons and a collector of celadon objects.

One lacquer cachepot with almost identical mounts to the present lot possibly delivered by Duvaux to Madame de Pompadour at the Château de Bellevue is now at the Louvre, illustrated by Daniel Alcouffe, op. cit., p. 95.

Other examples of celadon porcelain vases mounted in the same spirit and also dating from the mid-18th century, are the pair of cachepots previously in the collection of Sir Julius Wernher at Bath House, Piccadilly, sold in these rooms, 8 July 2008, lot 19, and a pot-pourri now in the Getty Museum, illustrated by Gillian Wilson, op. cit., p. 66-71, no. 13. The crowned C poinçon was a tax mark on any alloy containing copper used between 1745 and 1749.